Trumbull – Mr. Cedric D. Guion, D.L.W., (1) – Delay, Linger and Wait – Dan’s Visit Home – April, 1942

 

Trumbull, Conn.,   Apr. 13, 1942

Mr. Cedric D. Guion, D. L. W.,

Anchorage, Alaska.

Dear Sir:

If you are possessed of normal curiosity you will be wondering what unknown degree has been awarded you in your long absence from civilization (if you can term what we are now living in by the term of “civilization”). Is it some scholarly recognition of your penetration of the far north to repair planes atop of glaciers? No. Is it perchance for proficiency in snoring, which, according to the reports of one C. Heurlin, has reached a high degree of proficiency in your case? Again no. And it can have nothing to do with an Eastern Railroad which has not yet extended its rails to Alaska. Then, by heck, what is it? It is a long overdue and well merited degree in delayed correspondence signifying in all its pristine simplicity, “Delay, Linger and Wait”. That you have fairly won this award none will dispute, and if Chapters III and IV of the Saga of Plane Glacier, are as long arriving as Chapter II, it may be that by Christmas of 1943 we may be nearing the final chapter. All of which is by way of mention, as you may have suspected, that we have not heard from you of late.

Yesterday as I returned empty-handed from a trip to the P. O. Box 7 to see if there might possibly be an airmail letter from Alaska, I ran into Tiny Sperling who informed me that Nelly (Nelson Sperling) was married to a girl from Boston, having taken the step upon being made Sergeant, was at an army camp in Florida, in charge of mechanical work on automotive equipment and would shortly start for Australia.

Dan Guion

During the week I received a letter from Dan asking for funds so that he might have available cash to purchase a railroad ticket home, and instructing that it be sent to his new camp in North Carolina where he expected to be before the end of the week. Of course I complied with his request. Last night a little after 10:30 the phone rang and a voice informed me that “Your son Daniel is at the Bridgeport R.R. station”. Hastily donning a few clothes and gently leading the Buick out of its stall, I vaulted lightly into the saddle and Paul Revered it up to Plumbs, placed Barbara on the handlebars and raced for Bridgeport. From Dan I learned he had not yet left for North Carolina, had of course not received my check, but through a combination of borrowing from one of his buddies, talking the ticket agent into advancing him cash out of his own pocket, and selling some postage stamps back to the U. S. Government, he finally reached Bridgeport with enough left over to make two telephone calls. He is leaving in about an hour to go back to Fort Belvoir and expects that surely this week he will make tracks for North Carolina where the rumor is he will be on a surveying crew. His application for officers training is still pending, but as this is said to involve mostly combat training, he may, after finding what the life in the map making branch is like, prefer the latter. It all depends on what develops. He looks fine, is apparently enjoying himself and doesn’t appear to be suffering from ill health.

Tomorrow, the conclusion of this letter with updates on various family members. The rest of the week will comprise two more letters from Grandpa to the two sons away from home.

Judy Guion

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Trumbull – Dear Dave (3) – Grandpa Writes to Dan and Paulette – November, 1945

(First let me comment on the last part of your quotation. It is a bit of a bother, to be sure, to order, collect when received, pack and ship stuff ordered from. S. R., as it is difficult for me, with no help to get away from the office, but shucks, if we at home here cannot put ourselves out a bit when it means so much to you folks over there to get the thing, it’s just too bad and makes meaningless our protestations of goodwill.

Page 3   11/18/45

Besides knowing Chiche as I think I do, I don’t believe she would ever abuse or overdue the matter. Certainly as far as she herself is concerned, nothing she may ever want us to do for her over here will ever be too much trouble and if occasionally she has some dear friend, through her, we can do something for, it would probably give her as much pleasure to be the means of benefiting such other person as though it were done for her herself. There are only two aspects of the matter that give me any concern. First, is the fact that so small a percentage of the things ordered are available (in the case Rabets, for instance, the $34 worth ordered only $12 could be obtained) and the other is the cost angle, which is your affair and only indirectly any affair of mine. I don’t like to see you spend every cent as earned because sooner or later you will want some money for fares back to USA, For doctor’s bills, for baby things, etc. and that brings me incidentally to the old order you enclosed with your letter totaling roughly $145, the more costly items being two wedding rings and an engagement ring. What are you doing, getting engaged and married all over again? Before I go ahead with this purchase, I want to be sure it is something you didn’t leave on unintentionally, particularly in view of the fact you state in your letter it was a list made out last summer. I think I know what Chiche means about the other raincoat. On the catalog page showing raincoats are shown two styles, one the trench coat model which we sent to her and the other the dressmaker model, so-called, which I take it is the one she wants for her friend. It looks to me as if Paulette made out this order in her own handwriting, and that being the case, I think I shall write her to find out if I am correct, hoping I’ll get her answer in English. I have a sneaking idea that she can write English a lot better than she modestly claims. Note: you are sending paychecks home; also new address. I shipped off two more boxes to you last week at the former address. Best Thanksgiving wishes to you. Wish you were here for a swig of Burrough’s cider.

Dear Paulette:

You being one of the family now shouldn’t have to get this letter secondhand, particularly as with Dan rushing around Europe, there is no telling when his mail will catch up with him. So, if you have read down this far you will know some of the questions that are bothering me. Am I right about the raincoat? Do you want the raincoat for Renée the same color as yours? It also comes in blue. And am I also right about the other style for your friend? And maybe when you write me about these things you can also clear up the question of the wedding and engagement rings. Maybe they are not for you but for someone else? n’est se pas? I will order the tablecloth and kitchen towels and gloves and hope they have them in stock. In one of the boxes I sent to Dan last week I enclosed a number of American baby magazines thinking might be interested in looking them over. I guess you know how disappointed we are here that official red tape has kept you both from coming to your new home, but Time will cure that as it does many other things and we can still have the fun of looking forward to your arrival on some future happy day. Meantime, take good care of yourself and my little grandchild, and give that hubby of yours a big kiss for me when you see him again. Also, please give my warmest regards to your father and mother.

To all of you, love from

DAD

Tomorrow, a note from Marian and on Friday, another letter from Grandpa.

On Saturday and Sunday, more Special Pictures.

Judy Guion

Trumbull – Dear Dave (2) – Letters to Lad and Marian and From Dan – November, 1945

 

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Dear Lad and Marian:

Thought of you several times on the anniversary day and was tempted to send you a wire didn’t know whether it would reach you in time if sent to your camp address, even though of sending Marian flowers by wire, so you see that nothing tangible resulted, you were at least in mind.

Dick has been busy as the proverbial bee, tinkering away at this thing and that, much to the improvement and comfort of all concerned. He doped out a complete and comprehensive fuse plan for all the light outlets, installing new lights the apartment bathroom, replace one light socket (fixture) in the old bathroom. Between you and Ced and Dick a lot of mechanical things that have needed to be fixed up for some time have been completed. Jean cooked the dinner today, Marian, and did a right good job, too. We had a roast of lamb (page Dan), baked sweet potatoes, string beans, shoelace beets (canned) and prune whip. Last week another bunch of delayed letters arrived which I sent on to you at Lad’s address so you could have something to do besides knitting while Lad was put helping Uncle Sam. I am enclosing another letter for Marian which arrived since.

We are course hoping you both can get here for Thursday’s event. Was Bob transferred to the new company too? Was he able to get a pass to enable him to go home for Thanksgiving?

 

Dear Dan:

Yours of Nov. 8th from Paris. The letter in which you say: “Just like old Finnigan, I’m off again — this time to Luxembourg. We arrived back from Leige Tuesday evening and the next two days have been a hurricane of activity getting enough survey equipment to make up two crews. My crew is going to Luxem., And another  to Holland. The job this time is rather like the last, i. e. a topo., survey of a military cemetery.”

(Later on in the letter you say you haven’t received any mail lately so of course you didn’t answer any questions I have asked you lately to attend to clear up such points as to what position do you occupy in these survey teams what exactly is your work? How do you like your boss and then work with?)

You go on to say: “ Chiche is still at Calais. She asks for a few more items from S.R. (Sears Roebuck) back to last summer, hence are listed in the old catalog. Reasonable facsimiles will suffice. In addition to the items listed she wants to give her sister Renée a raincoat similar to the one you sent her– same size. And I promised to ask for a third raincoat for a friend– small size — not the same style as Paulette’s. Incidentally I have told Chiche that she is not to promise anything more to her friends because it is an abuse of your and Marian’s willingness, and a hell of a bother.”

Tomorrow, the conclusion of this letter. On Thursday an note from Marian and on Friday, another letter from Grandpa.

Judy Guion

Trumbull – Sons – Dan Arrives Home for a Visit – March, 1942

 

Daniel Beck Guion

 Trumbull, Conn.,  March 15th, 1942

Sons:

Referring to the date above, if I had a red ribbon on this here machine the date line above would have been typed in red, signifying a “red letter day”, not because it is the income tax deadline, but because it marks the first visit home of acting Corp. Daniel B. Guion, U.S. Engineers of Ft. Belvoir, Va. Outside of a mere rumor the first real news of the Daniel invasion reached me while I was engaged in the age-old Saturday night custom of a bath. Aunt Betty’s gentle knock on my bathroom door informed me that Dan was at the Bridgeport station, and would I go down for him. Would I? I mentally gave him at that instant my unadorned greeting and hastily removing a few drops of moisture, I donned my nearest apparel and all a-twitter headed the Buick south. There he was, neat and trim in his new uniform, fully as tanned as when he came back from Venezuela. We corralled Barbara on the way home and set down for a quiz fest. As the evening wore on, one by one, Lad and Dick and Dave drifted in adding their own questions to the crossfire of inquiries as to details of Army life until somewhere around 1:30 or 2:00, most of us sought our couches and left Barbara to get in a few questions of her own. I invited Barbara to dinner, after which we talked for a while, then Dan changed into his uniform and started back to see Biss on his way to the train en route back to Camp.

I hope I can check up another red letter day next week in celebration of a letter from snow-bound Ced who has been giving his index finger a three months rest. No news is good news they say but I would rather have something more positive on this score.

Enclosed for each of you is a newspaper clipping giving a list of the Trumbull folks who now have a place on Uncle Sam’s payroll, in which I thought you might be interested. There is a rumor that Irwin Laufer is now en route to Australia. I am also enclosing a clipping regarding the job the Army engineers are tackling in building a road to Alaska.

There is not much to report locally. The Tire Rationing Board turned down my request for new tires. Dave was in another radio broadcast over W.I.C.C. Friday and Saturday, showed films of Alaska and Venezuela at the North End branch of the Bridgeport Public Library — about a 45 minute showing. The weather is showing signs of coming spring although we are aware that there have been years when blizzards have visited the locality even later in the month than this.

Dick plans to take his new car down tomorrow to have it thoroughly gone over mechanically and put in first class running shape. Dan told Dick to sell his old car.

War talk- “Latrino-gram – a rumor. Mechanized dandruff – cooties.

DAD

Special Picture # 264 – Early Photo of Alfred and Arla’s First Five Children – @ 1924

 

Dick, Dan, Ced, Lad and Biss with Mack @ 1924

Tomorrow, I’ll begin posting a week of letters written in 1942. Ced is in Anchorage, Alaska, working for Woodley Aircraft Company and Dan has been drafted. He is at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia (near Washington), going through Basic Training. Lad and Dick are working in Bridgeport but both are concerned about their draft status. Lad has already been classified.

Judy Guion

Trumbull – Dear No. 2 son and No. 3 son – No News From No. 3 Son – February, 1942

Trumbull, Conn., Feb. 8, 1942.

Dear No. 2 boy and No. 3 boy:

This morning as I arose late, as is my wont of a Sunday morning, and glanced out of my bathroom window up toward the cluster of buildings we associate with the name of Knect, I saw but bare brown fields intervening instead of the snow-covered landscape. Only in our own driveway were isolated patches of ice to remind one that a few days ago a real winter landscape was our portion. The change is due to the fact that for the last two days a steady rain accompanied by a plus 32 degrees of temperature cleared the snow off into the swollen streams. (Exciting way to start a letter, n’est sai pas?)

We are at times driven to such little subterfuges as referred to parenthetically above by the realization that there is little news of importance to record and yet at the same time we are faced with the realization that both Alaska and Virginia are hanging on desperately waiting for news from home, as home, in turn, is waiting just as eagerly for news from you. I have lost track of the number of weeks that have passed since hearing from Ced.

Your letter, Dan, postmarked Fort Belvoir on Feb. 2nd is the last we have heard from you. The scissors and the three Spanish books you asked for were parceled and posted to you last week. I feel a bit guilty about not sending the $10 by return mail but as the scissors was the only item marked “urgent” and as you are quarantined for two weeks and unable to leave camp there didn’t seem any need for funds. For my guidance the next time you need funds will you please let me know whether you would have any bother cashing a check, as I would feel much safer mailing a check than I would five or ten dollar bills. Of course I could have sent you 10 one dollar bills at once but that seemed rather bulky. Anyway, to stop the argument here is the ten.

Now as to the income tax, sure I will pay it, if it is made out in ink and properly signed. The copy I saw, as I recall, was made out in pencil. Do you happen to recall what you did with either copy.

It seemed as though you were sober when you wrote the letter because it is quite rational and your sense of humor was very evident even to the addressing of the letter to me care of Aunt Betty, which little touch by the way she duly appreciated, but between that time and the time you put your return address on the back you must have bent your elbow too often resulting in a slight befuddlemenet of faculties in that Pvt. D. Guion gives his location as Co. D, 4th Btn. ERTC, Ft. Devens, Va. Oh well, we have to be understanding with these boys in love.

My last word of advice to you before we pass on to dishing out a few scathing remarks to Ced, is to be sure to get up in ample time in the morning so you won’t keep the captain waiting breakfast for you.

To Ced: As for you, you great big lanky backslider, is your brain so far from the writing finger on your long arm that it takes all this time to get an action message from one tother? First I blamed the delay to Uncle Sam but I’m getting a little suspicious along about now. Tell Rusty he better jack you up or I’ll be blaming him. Come on, loosen up and tell me what’s happened during the last month. I still have somewhat of a fatherly interest in you.

Aunt Betty sends her best to both of you, but this is one of the many things you may take for granted. Spring must be coming. I got a seed catalog yesterday and we turn the clock ahead tonight.

DAD

 This entire week will be filled with rather short (for Grandpa) letters filled with the usual news of family and friends to Dan, in the Army, and Ced, in Alaska.

Judy Guion

Special Picture # 258 – Arla Mary (Peabody) Guion and second son, Daniel – @ 1917